Most of the time, hitting a pothole or worn patch on the road won’t deal any significant damage to your vehicle. However, occasionally poor road conditions can cause a car accident. Poorly maintained roadways can cause you to lose control of your vehicle or have difficult stopping or navigating. In these situations, you may wonder who is to blame for the accident.
Florida law requires that the government take responsibility for maintaining its public roads and highways. This means that a city, town or county might have to deploy workers to repair any problems that might arise, including potholes, oil slicks and shoulder drop-offs. If a governmental entity does not attend to these issues, it may be responsible for any accidents that occur as a result.
While the government is expected to maintain its roads, it does have a reasonable amount of time to repair any problems. Many townships have hundreds of roads that the government cannot monitor by the minute. If the township is informed of a problem on one of its roads and fails to act, then it might be on the hook for any accidents that arose due to the condition of the road. To bring a case in this situation, a claimant would have to prove that the governmental entity knew or should have known about the condition and failed to do anything to correct it.
To discuss any injuries you might have suffered in a road condition-related auto accident, contact the knowledgeable Florida attorneys at Goldman, Babboni, Fernandez, Murphy & Walsh to learn more about the potential for you to seek compensation.